The covalent linking of acetylenes presents an important route for the fabrication of novel carbon-based scaffolds and two-dimensional materials distinct from graphene. To date few attempts have been reported to implement this strategy at well-defined interfaces or monolayer templates. Here we demonstrate through real space direct visualization and manipulation in combination with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations the Ag surface-mediated terminal alkyne C sp À H bond activation and concomitant homo-coupling in a process formally reminiscent of the classical Glaser-Hay type reaction. The alkyne homo-coupling takes place on the Ag(111) noble metal surface in ultrahigh vacuum under soft conditions in the absence of conventionally used transition metal catalysts and with volatile H 2 as the only by-product. With the employed multitopic ethynyl species, we demonstrate a hierarchic reaction pathway that affords discrete compounds or polymeric networks featuring a conjugated backbone. This presents a new approach towards on-surface covalent chemistry and the realization of two-dimensional carbon-rich or allcarbon polymers.

The two-dimensional (2D) self-assembly of 1,3,5-triethynyl-benzene (TEB) and de novo synthesized 1,3,5tris-(4-ethynylphenyl)benzene (Ext-TEB) on Ag(111) was investigated by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. Both 3fold symmetric molecules form long-range ordered nanoporous networks featuring organizational chirality, mediated by novel, planar 6-fold cyclic binding motifs. The key interaction for the expression of the motifs is identified as C−H•••π bonding. For Ext-TEB, an additional open-porous phase exists with the 3-fold motif. The nature of the underlying noncovalent bonding schemes is thoroughly analyzed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations including van der Waals corrections. The comparison of calculations focusing on isolated 2D molecular sheets and those including the substrate reveals the delicate balance between the attractive molecule−molecule interaction, mediated by both the terminal alkyne and the phenyl groups, and the molecule−substrate interaction responsible for the commensurability and the regularity of the networks. Comparison with bulk structures of similar molecules suggests that these strictly planar cyclic binding motifs appear only in 2D environments.

Quantum confinement of a two-dimensional electron gas by supramolecular nanoporous networks is investigated using the boundary elements method based on Green's functions for finite geometries and electron plane wave expansion for periodic systems. The "particle in a box" picture was analyzed for cases with selected symmetries that model previously reported architectures constructed from organic and metal-organic scattering centers confining surface state electrons of Ag(111) and Cu(111). First, by analyzing a series of cases with systematically defined parameters (scattering geometry, potentials, and effective broadening), we demonstrate how the scattering processes affect the properties of the confined electrons. For the features of the local density of states reported by scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), we disentangle the contributions of lifetime broadening and splitting of quantum well states due to coupling of neighboring quantum dots. For each system, we analyze the local electron density distribution and relate it to the corresponding band structure as calculated within the plane-wave expansion framework. Then, we address two experimental investigations, where in one case only STS data and in the other case mainly angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) data were reported. In both cases, the experimental findings can be successfully simulated. Furthermore, the missing information can be complemented because our approach allows to correlate the information obtained by STS with that of ARPES. The combined analysis of several observations suggests that the scattering potentials created by the network originate primarily from the adsorbate-induced changes of the local surface dipole barrier.

The assembly and dynamics of a hierarchical, bimolecular network of sexiphenyl dicarbonitrile and N,N'-diphenyl oxalic amide molecules on the Ag(111) surface are studied by scanning tunneling microscopy at controlled temperature. The network formation is governed by a two-step protocol involving hierarchic interactions, including a novel carbonitrile-oxalic amide bonding motif. For temperatures exceeding ~70 K, more weakly bound sexiphenyl dicarbonitrile molecules carry out one-dimensional diffusion guided by the more stable substructure of the network held together by the carbonitrile-oxalic amide bonding motif. A theoretical investigation at the ab initio level confirms the different binding energies of the two coupling motifs and rationalizes the network formation and the diffusion pathway.

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